FIRST COAST SUBVETS

POETRY AND OTHER TRIBUTES OR ARTICLES OF INTEREST


A Submarine
Born in the shops of the Devil,
Designed in the brains of a fiend;
Filled with acid and crude oil,
And christened "A Submarine".
The poets send in their ditties,
Of Battleships spick and clean;
But never a word in their columns,
Do you see of a submarine.

I'll try and depict our story,
In a very laconic way;
Please have patience to listen,
Until I have finished my say.

We eat where we can find it,
And sleep hanging up on the hooks;
Conditions under which we're existing,
Are never published in books.

Life on these boats is obnoxious,
And that is using mild terms;
We are never bothered by sickness,
There isn't any room for germs.

We are never troubled with varmints,
There are things even a cockroach can't stand.
And any self-respecting rodent,
Quick as possible beats it for land.

And that little one dollar per dive,
We receive to submerge out of sight;
Is often earned more than double,
By charging batteries at night.

And that extra compensation,
We receive on boats like these;
We never really get at all,
It's spent on soap and dungarees.

Machinists get soaked in fuel oil,
Electricians in H2SO4;
Gunnersmates with 600W,
And torpedo slush galore.

When we come into the Navy Yard,
We are looked upon with disgrace;
And they make out some new regulations,
To fit our particular case.

Now all you Battleship sailors,
When you are feelin disgruntled and mean;
Just pack your bag and hammock,
And go to "A Submarine"



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The above was found in the Sub Base newspaper in Groton, CT in 1966.
There was no author listed for this piece. It is reputed to have been written by a sailor off the N-2


Words to "Take Her Down" (The Submarine Service Song)
Take her down, and softly glide
Through the deep blue underneath the ocean.
We will control, the oceans wide
From down, down, underneath the sea.
Torpedoes crash and missiles roar.
Is the music underneath the ocean
From down below we will up the score
Of the ships on the bottom of the sea.

Say some toasts and pass the word,
In the futures yet to be
That we are safe as long as there is
A submariner underneath the sea.
So rig for dive, and take her down
Down, down underneath the ocean.
Fearless men, who find renown
In the deep blue underneath the sea.